


Family Comes First

by JemWithA_J



Category: Strike Back
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:14:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23231536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JemWithA_J/pseuds/JemWithA_J
Summary: You screwed up. You disobeyed orders and now your life is in danger. You don’t feel that you deserve the team’s help. But Twenty are family and they will not leave you behind.
Relationships: Alexander Coltrane/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Family Comes First

You scream as the door blows open and as the smoke clears you shake your head as you see Alex and the rest of Twenty standing there, guns raised, surveying the room for danger.

“Clear!”

You hear him shout, his voice authoritative, followed by the same word echoed by the rest of the group.

“Xander, no!” You shake your head as he lowers his weapon and runs over to you. “I told you no!”

“I wasn’t leaving you here!”

“It’s too late…”

You choke back the sob you had been trying to hold back. Trying to be brave. Trying to be the soldier he expected you to be. The chains that bind your hands behind your back also secure your legs, attached to a wall by a padlock with no key. The same chains bind the vest packed with explosives to your chest, the timer on the front ready and waiting to be remotely detonated any minute now. Alex looks at you, taking it all in, trying to look calm but you can see the panic in his eyes.

“We’re getting you out of here.” He says, reaching a hand to your cheek, your heart aching at his touch. “Lance Corporal, with me now!”

As he calls to Gracie you close your eyes. She’s the expert on explosives and you already know what she will say as she sees this. The same thought travelling through your mind right now. It’s too late. She’ll say it kindly, to protect you, to protect him from the news neither of you want but need to hear. But the truth is, you both know it. As you feel her get to her knees beside you, you open your eyes, trying once again to be brave.

“Well?”

Alex’s voice is sharp with nerves as he looks at Novin. As she catches your eye you try to tell her that it’s okay. That you already know and he needs to know too.

“Boss...there’s tons going on here. C-4, nails, screws, wire…”

“What about the detonator?” He interrupts, his eyes flashing with frustration. “Can you disarm it?”

“Looks like it’s remote activated boss.” She replies, her voice calm yet you can hear the pain in it. “If I try I might…”

“For fuck sake Lance Corporal just try!”

“Xander...please. Please stop. It’s okay…”

You look at him, wishing for all the world that you could reach out a hand to him, to try and ease his pain even a little bit. His eyes meet yours and you see tears in them. Something you have never seen in them. The sight of it makes you want to cry even more. Then you hear the ominous bleeping sound coming from the box at your chest. 

“We’re getting her out of here. Now!”

Alex calls to the rest of the team as he begins looking for a way to release you from the chains that bind you to the wall. You look at them all in turn. Novin, Chetri, Mac and Wyatt. You were more than just a team. They were family to you. Brothers and sisters who you loved with all your heart. They were crowded around you now. Mac and Wyatt trying in vain to release you, Novin still looking at the device at your chest trying to find a way to stop it even though you both knew it was futile. Chetri with her hand at your hair, trying to soothe you, bring you some sort of comfort. Your eyes find Gracie’s again and you beg her silently to stop. You see her swallow, the tears in her eyes now too before she composes herself and turns to Alex.

“Boss...I can’t stop it. I’m sorry. The timer is running down. We need to…”

“No!” He roars, making everyone jump back. “We are not fucking giving up on her!”

“Alex listen to me!”

You never call him Alex. And it grabs his attention. The pain in his eyes is almost too much for you to bear.

“I will not let any of you die here because of me!” You cry. “I fucked up. I went against your orders. This is on me. None of you deserve to die because of my mistake! Please! Just go!”

You look at them all, silently urging them with your eyes to do as you say even though you know if it was the other way round you would struggle to do the same. They come to you one by one, each holding back their tears as they say their goodbyes before Novin is the one who has to be strong and tell them to go. But Alex is still at your side. Still trying to free you as the counter reaches thirty seconds.

“Boss, we...we need to go.”

“Get the rest of the team clear of here, Lance Corporal.” He says, not looking at her, his eyes fixed on you. “Tell McAllister that he will take command…”

“No!” You scream, shaking your head. “Don’t you fucking dare, Xander. Get out of here, now!”

“Boss…”

“Now, Lance Corporal…”

His voice is calm now. He’s still looking at you as Novin reluctantly leaves the room and it’s just you and him. His hand is at your hair, sweeping it back from where it has stuck to your face with sweat and tears.

“Please baby…” You whisper, your throat tight as you shake your head. “Don’t do this…”

He pulls his arms tight around you as he kisses your hair.

“I couldn’t live with myself knowing I couldn’t save you and that I walked away unharmed…”

“I’m scared…”

“I’ve got you.” 

His voice is soft, calm. And somehow it manages to calm you too.

“I love you…”

You hear him say it as you count down the last few bleeps and brace yourself to die. Yet it doesn’t come. At least you don’t think it does. No noise, no pain. Nothing. You can still feel his arms around you, holding onto you for dear life.

“What happened?”

You whisper into his chest, unable to do or say anything more. For the first time you notice his arms are shaking. Unwillingly he seems to slowly peel himself away from you, his face crumpled in confusion as he looks down at the box against your chest.

“It’s dead…” He stutters, his voice full of the same confusion that shows on his face. “At least I think...I don’t know…”

“Boss??”

Mac’s voice, full of urgency, calls from the corridor and in an instant the team are back there with you, all of them with the same look of confusion on their faces as Alex.

“What the fuck happened?”

Mac says as Novin comes over to you, inspecting the timer at your chest before looking up at you with a grin on her face.

“Well it appears our Albanian friends know how to make a bomb vest but don’t know shit about how to detonate one. You lucky bastard…”

You cannot help but laugh, more from relief than anything. Then you feel the vomit rising in your throat and lean to the side as you throw up, Alex’s gentle hands keeping hold of you, holding back the hair from your face as you finish.

“Chetri…” he says as you begin to calm. “Find us something to break these chains.”

“Then can we get the fuck out of here, Sir?” Wyatt pipes up as Chetri rushes off to do as Alex asked. “Because it feels like we’ve been pretty damn lucky so far and I’d really like to get the hell out of here before that luck runs out.”

As Chetri finally returns with bolt cutters and begins to release you from the contraption that should have ended your life, Alex waits by your side until she finishes before helping you to your feet. You are unsteady and you hold tightly onto him to keep your balance but you know that he would never let you go.

“I agree, Sergeant.” Alex replies eventually and as you look at him you see that he is grinning. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”


End file.
